National Series 2017 - Points Update Round 15

With just one round left in the 2017 National Series the points race in the country's largest triathlon league is coming down to the wire across most categories.

Nearly 2,500 men and women have completed at least one National Series race so far this year in locations that have ranged from Derry in the far north of the country, right down to last week's Lost Sheep Triathlon in south west Kerry.

The final race in the National Series takes place next week at Moby Dick Triathlon near Youghal, Co. Cork.

We will publish full and final rankings following that event but in the meantime, with one round left, here's the state of play in the 2017 National Series.

Women's Rankings

A great start to the 2017 season has served women's National Series leader Maeve Maher McWilliams well.

The Belpark TC woman earned three quarters of her points with three podium finishes in a two week period in June.

McWilliams began her streak by winning City of Derry and by finishing second overall and first NS athlete at Westport Triathlon the following week.

Seven days later, she completed her triple score by crossing the line in third at Hell of the West where she was the second placed NS athlete behind Sinead Lynch and and Carolyn Hayes.

Maher McWilliams completed her NS qualification by racing Pulse Port Beach triathlon at the start of the month, where her fourth place finish brought her to a total of 471.273 points.

Second place by 11.8 points in the women's NS is currently occupied by Jessica Bruton who has done no fewer than seven National Series this season. Of these, Bruton's points come from Tri 795 Carlow where she finished second NS athlete, City of Derry - where she came second NS scoring athlete behind Maher McWilliams; her home race of Jailbreak in Cobh; and last month's Dublin City Triathlon.

Just two points separate Bruton in second from Amy O'Keeffe in third place on the National Series points table. O'Keeffe had been in the middle of the NS table until earlier this week when her haul of 111 points from the Lost Sheep saw her reach the four race qualifying criteria and leap frog dozens of athletes to a total of 457.159 points.

O'Keeffe's best scoring race of the season came in July from overall victory at Jailbreak Triathlon. Next best for the Cork TC athlete was Lanesborough, DCT and finally last weekend's Lost Sheep where O'Keeffe scored 111.334 points.

Race Not Over

While Maher McWilliams, Bruton and O'Keeffe occupy the top three slots in the National Series, the race for the podium is by no means over. Shona Keane, Esther Bayon and Michelle Brennan all lie within ten points of second place and so could move in to the top three if they race Moby Dick and replaced their lowest scoring race with a strong showing.

And there is always the chance of an athlete with just three National Series races to her name completing her fourth at Moby Dick and heading straight to the top.

A full breakdown of positions across all the women's age groups is available by heading to the series rankings page.

Men's Rankings

The big question in the men's National Series rankings is whether anyone can catch James Hoare?

The Piranha triathlete is 15 points clear with an impressive haul of 482.711 points from DCT, The Lost Sheep, Pulse Port Beach and City of Derry. Hoare has had a great season and was either the outright winner or the first NS scorer in all but one of his races.

Things get a lot tighter as we travel down the men's points table with less than 10 points separating second from eighth.

In pole position to finish in the second step of the 2017 National Series is High Elbow's James Cleland. Cleland has been on the scene for a number of years but doesn't show any sign of slowing down. He raced seven NS events in 2017 and achieved his score of 467.552 points from Carlow, DCT, City of Derry and Belfast Titanic.

One thing to watch in the men's National Series are the relatively large number of high scoring athlete currently lying mid table with three races completed. We won't know until after Moby Dick but there are a number of men who could complete their four race requirement and head straight in to the top ten if they race and race well next Saturday.

Club Series

The club rankings for the National Series are always highly competitive and 2017 looks to be no exception.

With one race remaining, Belpark TC on (2677.539 points) lead Piranha (2666.113 points) in the Mixed Club rankings by the absolutely tiny margin of 11.52 points. With the best three male and best three female athletes counting towards the final score, Moby Dick could easily see a change in the top spot come Sunday evening but it might not just be Belpark or Piranha who are in for a surprise.

Pulse TC lie in third 105 points back and just 4 points ahead of Naas TC while the margin between Athlone and Trilogy TC is just .546 of a point with Wicklow TC less than 4 points further back.

The women's club rankings show a similar picture with Belpark (on 2539.517 points) leading Piranha by just 21 points, making it highly likely that the battle could go down to the wire. Pulse lie in third place on 2459.663 and currently do not appear to be under threat from fourth placed Wicklow TC on 2362 points.

Piranha's grip on the men's club series appears to be a little more secure. With 2716.948 points in the bank, they lead Belpark TC by 72. Special mention here goes to Clonmel TC who with some superb teamwork are in third place on 2510.171 points.